Got A "Mike Tyson" Chair?

Do you ever feel like sitting in your office chair all day is like climbing into a boxing ring with Mike Tyson?

It buffets you from pillar to post, inflicting pain on your body. No matter what you do, the longer you’re in it the more it hurts.

Until by the end of the day your dying for the bell to end the final round so you can get out of it and head off home.

Maybe it’s time you went out and got an ergonomic office chair.

What exactly is an ergonomic office chair?
This is actually quite a difficult question to answer. Truthfully an ergonomic office chair has no proper definition and so is actually meaningless when describing any chair. If this wasn’t bad enough, there is no government or industry standard to describe such a chair.

Consequently you have to be very careful when attempting to buy one to make sure you don’t get stitched up.

How can you be misled when buying a chair described as ergonomic?
All too easily I’m afraid. Because there is no proper definition it means that suppliers can use the term to describe just about anything that has a seat, back and swivel base.

You see this all the time in discount warehouses, cheap shoddy chairs with little more than bamboo springs bearing the epithet ‘ergonomic’ which magically transforms a piece of junk into something apparently worth owning.

I don’t think so. So, just because it says ergonomic on the wrapper guarantees nothing. Great! How do I sift the wheat from the chaff?

Solving the ergonomic chair dilemma
Let’s begin by giving the term ergonomic office chair some kind of definition. Here’s how I would describe such a seat.

“An ergonomic office chair is an office chair that has been carefully designed for the user to be able to work productively, efficiently and safely as well as minimizing any feeling of fatigue or discomfort.”

OK why don’t we take things a stage further and consider the actual functions such a chair needs. I believe there are 5 essential functions our chair needs to be truly worthy of the title ergonomic. Here they are:

• Adjustable seat depth for optimal leg comfort
• Adjustable back height to allow the lower back to be correctly supported
• Adjustable Arm Height for ease of movement and minimize the risk of RSI
• Pneumatic height adjustment to suit your body height and weight
• Adjustable tilt tension allowing each individual user to set the correct pressure

Some high-end chairs actually automate back and tension adjustments, making it even easier to set up to your personal needs. And bear in, you are going to need to invest $300+ if you want of get all the advantages that an ergonomic office chair offers.

What benefits will you gain by selecting the right chair?
You will find is very easy to adjust the settings for the way you like to work. Once correctly configured you’ll notice as you move, the chair moves with you to safely and comfortably support you at all times.

You will be less aware of the chair due to its superior comfort and so find you can concentrate throughout your day’s work. This results in much better productivity and focus on your work.

Because the chair is designed to give you proper support, muscles don’t tire nearly as quickly. This also improves blood flow helping to keep you feeling much more alert and fresh even when tackling complex problems.

You’ll know when you have everything set up to match with your body because the chair will feel like it fits like a glove. And insisting on the 5 essential functions will greatly increase your chances of doing so and avoiding the wrong chair.

Making sure you don’t end up with the wrong product
Let’s quickly summarize the points I’ve covered so you don’t get landed with a liability but instead find a chair that will serve you for many years to come.

Remember there is no official description of an ergonomic office chair, so maintain a healthy skepticism about any products labeled ergonomic, especially cheap chairs.

Use my definition to point you in the right direction.

Insist on getting the 5 essential functions on any chair you buy.

Remember the benefits you will gain by picking a proper ergonomic office seat and realize you need to make an investment to get the right product.

By applying these guidelines you will give yourself a great chance of finding the right chair. After all, you surely don’t want another of those Mike Tyson chairs do you?

Here’s a summary of some excellent ergonomic office chairs which have been carefully designed to give you great working comfort for those long hours in the office.

Avoid Halloween Horror Chairs

Just a few days from now it will be Halloween and families will be having parties with kids enjoying their tricks and treats. Fortunately it’s all just harmless fun and folks have a great time as the nightmares are only make believe.

If you are looking to replace your office chair you need to avoid making for real Halloween mistakes. Because if you get it wrong the ghouls will be with you every minute you sit in your new chair.

It’s actually very easy to be sucked in by what seems like a great office chair. When you are shopping in your local office supplies store chances are you may be tempted by the glitzy display of office seating. And when you sit in the sample chair it feels comfortable too. That’s not surprising, when you’ve been wandering around for a while it’s nice to take the weight off your feet, so it likely will feel welcoming.

It’s only when you’ve used a chair for an hour or two that its limitations become all too clear.

In this article we’re going to take a look at 3 key ways of avoiding buying the wrong office chair

• Buying a chair with no tension adjustment
• Buying a chair with fixed arms
• Buying a chair solely on price

So let’s look at the first problem.

Don’t buy a chair which lacks tension adjustment
When you spend all day working in a desk chair it’s only natural that you want to relax and recline every now and then. Many cheap chairs have no way of altering the pressure required as you lean back in them.

What you get is a preset tension based on the manufacturer’s best guess on what’s right. You might get lucky, however for many it soon becomes a nightmare.

Light framed people find themselves gripping the chair arms and straining to get the thing to go back. And as soon as you relax the damn thing flips you forward again.

Heavy built people have the opposite problem. The chair just lurches backward without warning threatening to pitch you on the floor.

So, make sure any chair you’re thinking of buying let’s you adjust the tilt tension. Some automatically adjust to suit your weight but you won’t find this feature on budget chairs.

Onto the next rule.

Don’t buy a chair with fixed arms
The right arms on an office chair are important. Humans all come in different sizes and it simply isn’t possible to cater for individual preferences with a fixed arm.

You need to make sure the arms on your chair are height adjustable. That way you can set them so your lower arms are comfortably supported with you shoulders resting naturally.

Some arms have additional features like being able to move them forwards, backwards or in and out. These arms are often called highly adjustable and the added features can be useful.

And the last rule.

Never buy an office chair just because it’s cheap
More often than not cheap office chairs turn out to be a very poor bargain in the long run. Occasionally there is an opportunity to get a genuine reduction on a quality chair, maybe a discontinued range or ex showroom item. And that’s fine.

However, what you must avoid is chairs priced around $100 or less. The reason is simple. Chairs like this are made to meet a price point. The only thing on the maker’s mind is how it can cut costs to meet the price. There are a lot of things in a task chair you can’t see and this is where corners get cut.

Low quality seat foam that goes flatter than a squashed ant after a couple months use.
Poor quality steel components that quickly wear and become sloppy or break altogether.
Cheap upholstery that just doesn’t last.

Buying on price alone truly is a false economy tempting as it may seem.

So to save yourself from horror chairs:

• Make sure the chair has tension adjustment to let you relax easily when you need to
• Fixed arms rarely give good support; make sure you can adjust the height of the arms
• Don’t buy solely on price; it’s a false economy which you will quickly regret.

Make these part of your selection criteria and your chair won’t haunt you the rest of the year.

Here’s a useful video and article on the key features that make up a proper ergonomic office chair to help point you in the right direction.

One day I was chopping out a mortise joint in a piece of timber. It was only softwood and yet it was taking some getting through. As I hammered away Don the local builder turned up to do some work at the house. Seeing me struggling he asked to look at my chisel and exclaimed: “Good grief, your chisel is so blunt you could ride bareback to Birmingham on that blade!”

Don went to the back of his van and got out one of his chisels. He gave it a couple of licks on a sharpening stone and soon I was powering through the wood. You see I just didn’t have the right tool for the job. We’ll return to this later.

What is the difference between home office working and a regular office?
If you work from home full time then the difference between how you work here or a regular office will be broadly similar. Nonetheless there are some subtle distinctions.

One difference you’re likely to find is that in a home office everything is a lot closer to hand. Chances are that all the equipment you use like computer, copier, shredder, phone etc. are all in the same room.

In contrast in the typical company office they may be more spread out. When you have copying to do or documents to shred the equipment well be located centrally so it involves a walk to use them.

The other difference is the likely absence of colleagues to talk to and attend meetings with.

Why is home office working potentially less healthy?
So when you think about the contrast between the two ways of working, home office working can be a lot less healthy. Why is that?

Well, with everything so close to hand you can end up getting a lot less exercise as part of your work. No corridors to trek down or conference rooms to walk to when meeting with co-workers.

This reduced level of mobility makes it even more important to select a good office chair, one that comfortably supports you and moves as you move.

It can be a big mistake to just decide on the spur of the moment that you’ll nip to Staples and grab a close out bargain. That will all depend on how you work in your office at home.

How do you work in your home office?
You need to assess how you work in your home based office. Maybe you actually travel to work at your employers each day. And your home office is just somewhere you maybe spend an hour in the evening tying up loose ends or surfing the web.

In this instance the close out option is probably OK. Although if the chair you sit in at work all day is of poor quality then a better one at home will certainly help redress the absence of comfort you suffer each day.

Now, if you work full time from home either running your own business or working for an employer then you need to avoid cheap chairs altogether. The additional lack of mobility when home working we mentioned earlier most definitely needs to be compensated for with a proper ergonomic chair.

But I can’t afford to go spending $500 on an office chair
In reality you can’t afford not to. Just like my chisel, it’s all down to having the right tools for the job. Trouble is you can’t sharpen a bad chair. You have to replace it.
Let me ask you a question. What’s the value of your time $30 per hour, $50 per hour, $70 per hour? Let’s say it’s $50 per hour.

So, if you were able to work more productively and comfortably for just an extra hour a week, 12 minutes a day that chair would pay for itself in 10 weeks.

And given that the lifetime of a good chair is probably 10 years the initial outlay becomes completely insignificant. Your return would be 100 times your original investment. Let’s see how to pick the right chair.

How should you choose a home office chair?
When you pick a new office chair there are 5 critical functions you need to insist on:

1. Adjustable seat depth for optimal leg comfort
2. Adjustable back height to allow the lower back to be correctly supported
3. Adjustable Arm Height for ease of movement and minimizing the risk of RSI
4. Pneumatic height adjustment to suit your body height and weight
5. Adjustable tilt tension allowing each individual user to set the correct pressure

Although most chairs come with some of these functions, relatively few have all of them. Without these critical adjustments you won’t find it possible to remain comfortable in you chair for long.

Putting it all together

• Full time home office working involves less mobility and affects you productivity
• Realize serious home office workers need a serious chair for proper support
• Put aside a realistic budget, the added comfort and efficiency will pay you back in spades
• Insist on getting the 5 essential adjustments when replacing your chair

Here’s where you can find a video and article on the 5 vital features of an ergonomic office chair. And here’s a shortlist of qualifying ergonomic chairs that will support you comfortably and keep you productive.

Setting up your office follows similar principles, especially when your budget is limited.

In this article we’re going to look at the relationship between your desk and office chair and how to apportion a tight budget.

We’re covering the following 3 areas:

• What is the function a desk?
• What is the function of an office chair?
• Which should you spend more on, desk or chair?

Let’s start by looking at the purpose of a desk
Essentially a desk is a convenient work surface that forms a key part of your office setup. In human terms it represents the body’s trunk and it is what your equipment rests on.

It holds the stuff you need to interact with to complete your work. A desk is a fixture for holding your key equipment like your computer, keyboard, mouse, files etc. This is its function.

It’s obviously desirable for it to look good, have pleasing aesthetic lines and be able to handle cables and wires neatly. Nonetheless, its function is largely rudimentary.

If you had to, you could actually get by with a sheet of chipboard supported on a pair of oil drums provided the worktop was the right height and had no nasty sharp edges. Of course it would look awful and I don’t suggest for a moment you would do this. My point is that if you are on a tight budget a very basic desk is all you need to perform your work. Where does your chair come into things?

What is the function of an office chair?
Returning to the analogy with your body, your chair represents your heart. Whereas your desk is unchanging, your chair is continually on the move as it supports your body throughout the day.

As you move it moves with you and as a result forms a much more active part of your work set up. Imagine for a moment trying to work in a chair which was bolted to the floor, set to a fixed height and had a fixed back and fixed arms. It wouldn’t be very long before you found it very uncomfortable to continue working. Consequently how you allocate your budget needs careful thought.

Which should you spend more on, desk or chair?
When you are working to a very tight budget, it’s far more important to spend the lion’s share of your money on a good ergonomic office chair. You need something that is going to support you and be comfortable when working under pressure.

Of course it’s tempting to plump for a funky looking desk with a fancy curved top and grab a cool looking chair from IKEA. Whilst it might all look great it won’t be long before you’re finding it all uncomfortable to work at because of lack of support.

Much the best option is to go for the best seat you can afford, even if it does look a bit boring. If you have a serious workload to complete each day, comfort is much the best option. And that starts with getting the right chair.

So just to recap what we’ve covered here:

• Your desk is a convenient surface that holds your essential work items
• Your office chair is the heart of your work area and provides support and comfort
• On a tight budget always allocate enough for a good ergonomic office chair

Just as with a hi-fi system the speakers deliver the end result. So too does your task chair when it comes to comfort and getting your jobs done when working long hours in the office.

Here’s where you can read an article on the 5 essential features you should look for in an ergonomic office chair.

When you have the wrong office chair it’s like getting off to a false start in a race. You’re ready to get on with things and yet something is holding you back.
And the problem is your chair, but it’s not that obvious.

How can your office chair distract you?
With the wrong chair you can often find you are distracted from your work. When you start an important task everything seems to be flowing along nicely. After a while though your attention starts to wander and maybe you feel the need to check your email or Facebook account. Something just seems to distract you and yet there doesn’t appear to be a reason for it.

How lack of comfort stops your workflow
One of the biggest causes of distraction when working in the office is an uncomfortable office chair. The problem is as soon as you start fidgeting and shifting to try and get comfortable it breaks your concentration. You find your mind starts to wander and this is when you begin to slip into bad habits like checking email, looking out the window etc. So, why are some desk chairs uncomfortable?

Poor adjustability results in inflexible working
The primary reason office chairs cause discomfort is a limited range of adjustability. If you only had to work for 30 minutes in the office you could get away with pretty much any sort of chair. However when you have to put in 7 to 9 hours or more a day at your computer, it’s essential to have a seat that is fit for purpose.

After all you wouldn’t run a marathon in flip-flops and jeans. No you’d make sure you had proper running shoes and clothing. And it really is no different with a heavy workload in the office. You need a seat designed for working long hours in comfort.

Consequently, a chair that only has seat height adjustment, fixed arms and back just isn’t going to hack it. It simply isn’t man enough for the task and will soon let you know as it inflicts pain on your body. And even when you can adjust the arms and back there can still be problems. How can this be?

Chair deterioration creeps up on you over time
When you first get your chair it feels great and certainly a whole lot better than the old one. And yet now you’ve had it a while those annoying traits your previous chair had seem to be returning. This doesn’t happen all at once, but gradually over time as your chair seems to age prematurely.

This is really a quality issue. One of the biggest culprits in this untimely deterioration is the foam used in the seat and back. For the first few months it’s springy and supportive then as time goes on it stops springing back and instead goes flat and hard.

This is because cheap foam has been used and its low quality just isn’t designed to last more than a few months before giving up the ghost. Suddenly you find you are sitting on a hard lumpy surface and the lack of comfort becomes distracting and you find it difficult to concentrate.

Low cost components begin to wear with continual use and what was initially a good firm support instead feels like a teaspoon in a tin of treacle.

Is there really that much difference between office chairs?
It’s easy to think all office seats are the same and something you replace every couple of years. And when you buy the wrong one that’s exactly what happens and you get into an endless cycle of buying another new cheap chair.

A couple of years back I enrolled on a part time course at the local college and when the students met up for the first class everyone was excited to see the classroom was kitted out with new chairs.

The euphoria lasted for less than a month and it became necessary to get to class ten minutes early. Why? Because in that short period the backs had broken off at least 4 chairs, so unless you fancied sitting at a backless chair you needed to be early to grab one that still worked properly. Even when you found one that was intact they were awful to sit in for a two hour class as they were so uncomfortable.

The apparent bargain price paid by the college turned out to be anything but. And because of the price there was no guarantee. A bit like buying a dodgy auto – sold as seen. There really is a world of difference between good and poor office chairs.

So, there are good reasons why some chairs stop you getting your work done
Let’s quickly recap:

• Uncomfortable chairs cause you to lose concentration allowing your mind to wander
• Lack of adjustability makes it impossible to remain comfortable for long
• Recognize cheap chairs deteriorate rapidly over time
• All chairs aren’t the same, be careful of falling continually into the same trap

Avoid hearing the double shot of that starter’s pistol signaling another office chair false start. Take care and eliminate the distractor factor when you need to replace you chair.

Here’s where you can find information on picking the right ergonomic office chair that will support you in comfort, no matter how long you work.

And we just slouch. So why are we such slouchers?

What makes us disregard the way we sit?
Sitting properly is really all about understanding the ground rules of maintaining a good posture throughout your working day. The thing is we’re so busy that most of us give little thought to whether we are or aren’t sitting correctly. We tend to throw ourselves into our chair and work away at what we are doing and before long our body starts to protest.

The lousy posture we’re adopting is quickly signalled as our body sends us wake up calls in the form of pain. And as nobody likes pain it’s time to acknowledge change is needed and start sitting correctly. Why is sitting badly so prevalent these days?

Why don’t we sit properly?
Apart from maybe being told at school to sit up properly, most of us have never been taught how to sit in the right way. As a result we tend to drop into our chairs without any thought about the need to address our work in the correct manner.

This type of unstructured sitting where we just let our body follow the path of least resistance is actually so much easier to do. Basically we’ve learned a bad habit and learned it well. The problem is it soon catches up with us because sitting poorly is unhealthy.

What happens when you don’t sit properly?
Sitting badly places enormous stresses on the body. When you back is curved forwards and rounded it opens up the disks in the back and puts your spine and surrounding muscles under pressure.

From your body’s point of view it makes it work overtime trying to support an unhealthy posture. It soon tires and its natural response is then to produce pain, the alarm signal that change is needed. If you try and ignore it the pain often spreads from maybe your lower back into the shoulders and neck as well.

All this means it’s time to unlearn these bad habits and start replacing them with some good ones, it’s actually pretty straightforward to do.

How do you sit properly?
You need to begin by making sure your seat is set to the right height. When correctly set your feet should be firmly on the floor and the angle between your thighs and your upper body should be between 90 and 110 degrees.

Next, sit with your bottom placed at the back of the seat of your chair. At the same time making sure that your chair’s back is giving good support to your lower back. When it’s properly positioned it will have the effect of keeping your back upright, which in turn tends to relieve pressure on your shoulders and neck.

And if you find the back doesn’t give you proper support you probably need to replace it with a ergonomic office chair. As a stop gap measure you may find a lumbar roll will provide you with the necessary support.

Lastly, and this is the most difficult part, keep your chin tucked in towards your breastbone. This has the effect of lengthening your spine and keeping your back properly aligned. The reason it’s the most difficult part is most of us have spent years doing the exact opposite craning our necks forward instead. Consequently, you will need to persevere with this one, but it will be worth it.

Putting it all together
Here’s a quick summary of the key points I covered in this article:

• Remember that sitting consists of some basic ground rules
• Unstructured sitting following the line of least resistance is not good
• Be aware of the stresses and strains poor sitting puts on your body
• Never ignore pain, it’s a wake up call for change
• Learn and apply good sitting habits and think about changing your office chair if it prevents you from sitting properly

If you follow these guidelines and adopt healthy sitting habits, in time your back will straighten up and become like those healthy Victorians.

What causes pain in an office chair?
Office chairs can trigger pain for many different reasons and it’s not always obvious why you are suffering when sitting and working in the office environment. In this article I want to take a look at the many factors that can exacerbate pain and discomfort with office work, let’s begin with the commonest one.

Poor adjustment
The first reason for discomfort is probably the most obvious but is also the most overlooked. When it comes to office chairs people seem all too ready to sit down and start using them without making any adjustments apart from maybe setting the height. They overlook the seat’s other functions, possibly because they are unaware of them, although your chair may not include all the necessary adjustments.

Lack of adjustability
Whilst it’s important to set up and adjust your office chair so that it’s a good fit for you, this isn’t always possible. The reason for this is that many chairs lack the ability to make key adjustments.

A good example of this is chairs that don’t allow the user to adjust the seat depth to suit their leg length. Probably less than 20% of office chairs include this vital function. This causes big problems for users with either very short or very long legs as the seat depth is quite unsuitable for their needs.

Fixed arms found on many cheap chairs and are another contributing factor, particularly with shoulder and neck pain.

Lack of quality
Low cost chairs often exclude important functions like seat depth and arm adjustment. As a result the user has to make the most of a badly designed product and is often forced to sit in an unnatural position for extended periods. The outcome is invariably pain and lack of comfort.

Another issue with cheap seats is the low quality of the components. Because these aren’t actually seen as they are hidden within the workings of the chair it’s easy for manufacturers to cut corners.

One of their favourite tricks is to use low quality seating foams. When you first get the chair the foam seems fine, however within a few short months it has quite literally gone flat. And so instead of a gently cushioned sit, you’re down to the boards and it as hard as rock. Consequently you end up sitting at all sorts of unnatural angles to relieve the pain to your thighs and bottom.

Bad sitting habits
Sitting with a poor posture is a sure fire way to inflict pain on your body. Slouching forwards or craning your neck is a very common form of sitting badly. It often happens because people haven’t set up their chair in relation to the key pieces of equipment they work with. Monitors are too far away so can’t be read easily, or mouse and keyboard are poorly placed involving unnatural movements that quickly build into discomfort.

Apply the same rules as you would when getting into a strange auto and spend a few moments to make sure all the key things are close at hand. Other bad habits include tucking one leg onto the seat and sitting on it. And wedging phone receivers between ear and shoulder. You definitely want to avoid both of these.

Summary
Let’s just summarize the key points I’ve covered to make sure you are giving yourself the best chance of working comfortably.

• Make sure you have adjusted your chair to fine-tune it to your body
• Be aware that some chairs may lack some important functions vital for good comfort
• If your chair has major problems like flat foams replacement may be the only answer
• Be aware of bad habits, check and adjust if necessary before ‘pulling away’ for a days work
• Applying these simple rules will give you a much better chance of working comfort and keeping pain at bay.

You can find more about the importance of proper chair adjustability in this article on the 5 essential features of an ergonomic office chair and why they are vital for working comfort.

Bad Habits Can Cause Pain

Do you find yourself suffering with nagging aches and pains when you’re working at your computer?

Shoulders as stiff as boards, aching neck muscles and maybe lower back pain too. Well, it’s time to banish those bad habits and get stuck into healthy office working.

What is healthy office working?
Healthy office working is really all about eliminating bad habits and developing good habits instead. It’s a case of becoming more aware of what you are doing, recognizing when what you are doing is bad for your health and consciously replacing it with the correct method instead.

How do I recognize bad habits?
Fortunately bad habits are actually quite easy to recognize. Because when you are working in an unhealthy posture your brain quickly lets you know by inflicting pain on your body.

Pain is nature’s way of saying you need to change what you’re doing because it’s not healthy. Consequently any time you feel pain when you’re working don’t ignore it, instead take heed and ask yourself why what you’re doing is causing you pain.

When pain strikes you need to take heed and then take action
So when your shoulders are aching or your lower back is killing you, simply ask why it’s happening. It’s usually something straightforward. Maybe you haven’t moved out of your chair in over two hours and you’ve been sitting like a twisted branch. Or you’ve been craning your neck forward rigidly for the past half hour as you scrutinize the figures on your screen.

Whatever – it’s time to start developing some good habits instead.

How can you begin developing good habits?
It really isn’t difficult at all. Most of the time it’s all too obvious why you’re suffering pain and stiffness. Here are some of the ways you can take action.

• Get up out of your chair at least once an hour. Every half hour is better
• Do some simple exercises and stretches, many of these can be done while sitting
• Use an inexpensive program like ergonomix or MacBreakz to develop a routine for exercise
• Use a countdown timer to remind yourself to take a break
• Check how you are sitting, adjust your screen so you’re not craning forwards
• Don’t slouch in your chair, a rounded back is killer and causes lower back pain
• Drink plenty of water, it will help to keep your muscles healthy

As you can see there’s nothing difficult about checking for and correcting any of the above problems. And when you take action you will notice the benefits of healthy office working.

What are the benefits of healthy office working?
Developing and implementing healthy working habits will quickly provide you with a much better work experience. Here are some of the improvements you’ll notice pretty quickly.

• Less fatigue in your body and muscles
• A greater level of concentration
• More alertness when performing tasks
• More productivity as you aren’t being distracted by pain
• Feeling more relaxed and less tense even when performing complex tasks

Surely it makes sense to experience these improvements in your work routine by taking heed of your body and being aware of when change is needed.

Be aware and watch for those tell tale pain messages
So the secret to healthier office working really comes down to self-observation and pain awareness.

Make a habit of continually observing how you are working. If you find you are slipping back into an old bad habit, pull yourself up and correct it. Do this for two weeks and you will soon find you will replace the bad with the good.

And if your chair is worn out, it’s probably time to think about investing in a new ergonomic office chair because it will help support you properly.

Finally, never ignore pain it’s nature’s way of pointing out the error of your ways. Ask yourself what the cause is and take action to correct it, you’ll be glad you did.

Instead what if you only had a compass to guide you? Even if it was fixed to the dash you would need to keep looking to make sure you were headed in the right direction. And with all the twists and turns in the roads it probably wouldn’t be very practical at all.

A good ergonomic office chair is a bit like GPS for the office
When you have a quality ergonomic chair it helps take the strain of those long days in the office. You have an important project to complete it’s probably the best part of 10 hours work. However the very tight deadline means you have to get it all wrapped up in 8 hours if at all possible.

The last thing you need is to be uncomfortable and constantly moving and shifting as you struggle to relax and concentrate on the task ahead.

With the right chair you’re in safe hands because many modern chairs have self-adjusting features. They sense the way you are sitting and provide continuous support to make sure your body maintains a healthy posture throughout the day.

In fact as you become absorbed in the task at hand you’ll likely barely notice your chair as you concentrate on getting everything completed.

A bad office chair is more like a compass
If you have a poor quality office chair that tight deadline is going to seem much more like making that road trip with a compass. It’s probably going to be OK for the first half hour, or so. And yet as the day wears on it starts leaving you feeling worn out.

Maybe the foam in the seat and back padding has flattened with continual use and no longer provides good comfort and support. Or the back seems to have a mind of its own, when you recline to relax for a moment.

And if only those arms adjusted, they always seem to get in the way and the hard plastic tops are killing your lower arms.

As the project deadline approaches you become more and more pressured as you begin to get further behind.

What sort of features makes good ergonomic office chairs different?
For a start they are likely to have top quality foams which bounce back to shape even after years of use. And in the case of a chair like Herman Miller’s Embody the 4 ply support suspension makes it feel like you are floating rather than sitting.

A lot of chairs have automatic adjusting recline functions, so as you lean back the chair senses your weight and where you are applying pressure and automatically compensates giving proper back support. A good example of this is HÅG’s Futu chair which even includes some fine tuning if required, however most will find the standard auto adjuster fine.

Adjustable arms can help make the work experience much more enjoyable, especially the more flexible ones which don’t just alter in height. They also adjust in width, angle and front to back as well, making it easy to get perfect arm comfort.

Here’s where you can find a quick summary of Herman Miller chairs as well as other quality office chairs from a variety of different manufacturers to help you work long hours without distraction.

And soon out come the villains, running with the bags of cash they dump them in the trunk and wheels spinning they make their getaway…

The way some people buy an office chair has a lot of similarities, no of course they don’t steal one, and yet they seem to want to get the transaction done as quickly as possible.

And they actually end up robbing themselves in the process.

Why is this?
Probably the biggest single reason is they just don’t see it as important, after all it’s only an office chair they’re all pretty similar aren’t they? Er no.

They figure they’ll just call in at the discount office supplies place, they’ve always got some deals going down on chairs, I’ll grab me a bargain.

So in they go, sit in a couple of demo models for 30 seconds, pull some levers and turn a few knobs. A snap decision is made and away they go feeling relieved they got it sorted without any hassle and pleased with the $79 price tag.

Reality is the hassle comes later, in about a week’s time. Let’s come back to that later.

What pressures people into this way of picking an office chair?
Very often it comes about as the result of sitting in a totally worn out desk chair. They’ve been putting off forever replacing it because it still works, even though it’s as uncomfortable as hell.

But then it finally gives up the ghost, maybe an arm falls off, or the seat keeps sinking, or a wheel breaks off – whatever, now they have to sort it out and quick.

That’s when they make the rushed trip to get a replacement and very likely buy more of the same.

Why is this the wrong approach?
If you spend all day sitting in a desk chair then going out and simply buying the cheapest chair you can lay your hands on is definitely the wrong approach, here’s why.

Working long hours in a low quality office chair is just another form of torture. These products are made to meet a price and the manufacturer will cut any corners they can to get there. Especially on the parts you don’t see like the foam padding and the chair’s internal workings and fixings.

When you weigh up how long you sit each day it may even match or exceed the time you spend in your bed. Surely, you wouldn’t buy a bed in this way? Why is it any different with a chair?

Getting it right
When you need to replace your chair you should set aside time to research what you need. There are certain key functions you need and typically you will find less than half of them on sub $100 chairs.

Think about how much more productive you would be if you weren’t constantly uncomfortable because what you are sitting in isn’t fit for the purpose.

Recognize that you will need to spend at least a few hundred dollars to get the right answer.

And never make a decision after sitting for a couple of minutes in a chair. Why? Because it’s bound to feel great if your existing chair is worn out.

To properly assess a chair you need to sit in it for at least a few days to a week, before any shortcomings become apparent. So make sure whether you are buying offline or online there is a decent return period in case you need to return it, say 30 days.

Here’s a quick summary of some quality ergonomic office chairs you might want to check out, if you are thinking of getting a new one.